Plato's feasible city: the rational use of belief and imagination in politics

Plato"s perfect cities of the Republic and the Laws have often been criticized as utopias; that is, as unachievable cities. It is my argument that such a “utopian reading” is wrong. Plato"s best cities cannot be understood as utopias neither in the literary meaning of the word nor in the sense of theoretical projects of political recast. They must be seen as paradigms of feasible cities. To a broader extent, the conclusion of my argument is that, according to Plato, imagination and belief are constituent elements of a sound political rationality